Directory-board.



CLA. JOHNSON.

DIRECTORY BOARD.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 7. 1909.

987,308. Patented 001:. 19,1909.

DOE BUILDING n W 0 /DAMS,T. mm 55 LUM, LEJL" $85 ANDEME @931 h M mInver:

un. I

cHABLEsA. JOHNSON, or nvnnnrr, nnssncnusn'rrs.

mneronr-nonnn. v

Specification of Letters ratent.

Patented Oct. 19, 1909.

Application filed April 7, 1809. Serial No. 488,770.

To all whom it may concern: 4

Be it known that I, Cmumns A. JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica,

and a resident of Everett, in the county of' Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improve-- ments inDirecto -Boards, of which the following is a spec' cation. Y

This invention relates to an improved. mechanical directory orchangeable sign for use in business buildings or other localities whereit may be desired to indicate the loca-.

tionof the difi'erent persons or things.

It has for its object the provision of such a device which will dispenseas far as 'possible with wood in its construction and there by obviatethe difliculty which has been wardly exten found in devices of thiskindowing to the exposure to the various weather conditions to which suchdevices are usually subjected.

It has for a further object a novel construction of the various; naniestrips and a novel means for readily removing the same from thesupporting guides.

A further object of the invention is to provide each strip with aslidablemember provided with indicating characters which are adapted tobe exposed to view through an ope in the name strip.

The in ention consists in certain novel features of construction andarrangement of parts which will be readily understood by reference tothe description of the drawings and to the claims hereinafter given.

Of. the drawingsf Figure 1 represents an elevation of a mechanicaldirectory embody.- ing the featur s of this invention, a portion of thelower righthand corner of the same being broken away. Fig. 2 representsa hopizontal section of the same, the cutting plane being on line 22 onFig. 1. Fig. 3 repliesents a vertical section of the same, the namebeing removed, the cutting plane being e 33 on 1. Fig. 4 represents alongitudinal vertical section through a porstri tion of one end of aname strip'and showin' the slidable indicating member contains thereininelevation. Fig. 5 represents an end View of one of said end strl s. Fig.6v

represents a transverse section 0 thesame, the cutting plane being online 6--6 on Fig. 4.- Fig. 7 represents a perspective view of one of theslidable indicating members. Fig. 8 represents a partial horizontalsection of the same, the cutting plane being on line Similar charactersdesignate like parts throughout the several figures of the. drawmgs.

In the drawings, 10 represents a suitable rectangular frame, the twovertical sides of which are connected by means of cross members 11 whichnot only give rigidity to the frame but serve as a means for securingthereto the rectangular metal strip-supporting plates 12, each of whichhas out therefrom as indicated at 13 in Figs. 1 and'2 an ear 14. whichis bent over and forms ahook fitting over one of said cross members 11to rovide a suitable support for the plate 12. ach of the lates 11 isprovided with inding guide members 15 extending toward each other, thesebeing adapted to enter slots 16 formed in each end of the name strips17,the lower strip in each plate beingada ted to rest upon ears 18formed'upon the ate 12.

Each name strip 17 is provided with an openin 19 through which isexposed to view the in icating characters 20 u on a slidable member 21positioned within the name strip 17 and having an car 22 extendingthrough the openin 19 by which said member may be moved ongitudinally ofthe name strip 17 to expose diiferent characters to view through saidopenings. These characters in the drawin s are shown as the words In andOut to indicate the presence or absence of the tenant but otherindicating characters may be used equally as well if desired.

Each of the name strips 17 is composed of a metal strip bent over uponitself toform two parallel sides with the opposite edges bent inwardlyas indicated at 23 with the opposing faces thereof separated a distanceequal to the width of the slot 16 in the upper edge of the strip 17 ateither end.

with a recess at -the end which abuts the stops 24 and when either ofthe name strips 17 has been raised so that this recess 25 is in the sameplane with the stop 24.as indiguide members I Y Each of the-name strips17 is provided cated in the lower righthand corner of Fig. 1 the namestrip can then be moved to the right with the stop 24 in the recess 25,as

and removing the name strips when any change therein is made necessarybut none of the strips can be removed unless they are raised upon theguides 15 a suflicient distanceto bring the recess 25 o posite to a stopmember 24. To prevent thls, the building name plate 26 is hin edat 27 tothe top of the frame and the ower edge thereof abuts the upper edge ofthe upper name plate so that when the building name plate is positionthe name strips 17 are prevented from being moved upwardly to alloweither of the strips to be disengagedfrom the guide members 15. When itis necessary to make any changeit is obvious that by moving the nameplate 26 outwardly about the hinge 27 the strips 17 may be removed atwill. Normally the name plate 26 is retained in position by means of thefront plate 28 secured by a plurality of hinges 29 to the frame 10 andlocked thereto atjthe opposite side by means of a catch 30. It isobvious, therefore, that when the front plate 28- is in position andlocked by the catch 30 no one of the strips 17 can be removed ordisturbed. v

rectory board, composed entirely of sheet metal, which overcomes theobjections usu- When a plurality of stri -supporting plates 12 are useda metallic bead1ng31 is interposed between every pairof such plates withthe edges thereof extending slightly over the adjacent ed es of the namestrips 17, as indicated Figs. 1 and 2. When it is desired to remove thestrip-supporting plates 12 the front plate 28 is unlocked and movedabout its hinges so that the name:- plate 26 may be moved about thehinge 27 and the plates12 lifted bodily upwardly until the hooks 14thereon are disengaged from the cross bars 11 connecting the two sidesof the frame 10.

This makes a veryconvenient form of dially arising from the use of aframe-composed of wood, which often gets out of working order owing tothe various changes in weather conditions to which it is exposed.Moreover, thejinvention provides a ready means of locking the'namestrips in position and retaining them in such locked position until thechange is effected by some one authorized to do so by unlocking thefront plate and permitting the strips to be lifted sufliciently to.bring the recess 25 therein opposite the stop members 24.

combination of a frame v parallel inwardly extend ng guides; a plu- Thename strips as shown in the drawings and described inthe specificationare very effective in their operation.

The feature of providing a means of indicatin the presence or absence ofa tenant is an obvious advantage and the means for accomplishing thisobject is much simpllfied by the present construction of name strip.

It is believed the operation and many advantages of the invention willbe fully understood from the foregoing.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a frameprovided with a cross member; a plate provided with a hook adapted toengage said cross member; and a plurality of name strips detachablysupported upon said plate. Y

2. In a device of the class described, the

combination of a frame; a metal plate secured thereto and provided withparallel name-strip supporting guides, one of said guides having aplurality of outwardly extending stops; and a plurality of slotted namestrips mounted on said guides which extend into the slots in theopposite ends of said name strips, one of said stops abutting one edgeof each name strip.

3. In a device of the class described, the

on itself to form two parallel sides the full width of said name stripand having a slot .in each end.

5. In a device of the class described, a

name strip formed of a strip of metal folded on itself to form twoparallel sides and having a slot in each end, the o posite edges of saidstrip of metal being olded inwardly between said sides and separated thewidth of said end slots.

6. In a device of the class described, a name strip formed of a strip ofmetal folded on itself'to form two parallel sides and hav- .ing a slotin each end; and an opening through one side at one end, said 'striphaving a movable member therein provided with an" ear extending throughsaid 0 ening by which it may be moved longitu inally of said strip toexpose to view through said opening different surfaces.

7. In a device of the class described, the provided with two 10 with itslower edge abutting the upper edge 937,308 i i a rality of slotted namestrips mounted on of the upper name strip; and a hinged front saidguides; and a top plate hinged to said to said frame bearing on saidhinged plate frame with its lower edge abutting the up- I and normallyretaining it in position. per edge of the upper name strip. Signed by meat 4 Post Oflice Sq., Boston, 5 8.bIn a devifce off the classdesizribed, the 1 Mass, this 6th day of 'April, 1909.

com ination o a rame provide with two Y parallel inwardly extendingguides; a plu- CHARLES rality of slotted name strips mountedo onWitnesses: said guides; a top plate hinged to said frame VALTER E.LOMBARD,

NATHAN C. Lomxm.

